The parents of a three-year-old girl have been arrested after allegedly leaving their daughter locked inside their car for 20 minutes in a shopping mall car park as the temperature soared to 104 degrees.

Ho Kim, 33, and Tae Kim, 35, are accused of leaving their daughter locked inside the vehicle at the Brea Mall in Brea, California, while they shopped.

It comes as statistics reveal that 18 children have died so far this year after suffering heatstroke after being left inside hot cars.

Arrest: Parents Ho Kim, 33, and Tae Kim, 35, are handcuffed after allegedly leaving their daughter locked inside the vehicle at the Brea Mall in Brea, California, while they shopped

The girl was saved after a concerned member of the public called the police after spotting her inside the black Nissan Quest mini van.

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The temperature outside the vehicle was reportedly 91 degrees at the time but inside it was a sweltering 104 degrees, according to a police report.

Officers arrived at the scene at around 4.45pm and managed to instruct the girl how to open the door herself.

She was taken to a local hospital where she was found to be in good condition, a Brea Police Department spokesman said.

When the parents arrived they were arrested at the scene. They are currently being held at the Brea City Jail on $100,000 bonds.

Mr Ho is taken away by police. Officers arrived at the scene at around 4.45pm and managed to instruct the girl how to open the door herself

On Friday last week a 10-month-old baby girl died after her foster father left her inside a hot car for two hours.

Seth Michael Jackson, 29, was arrested after he found the unresponsive child inside his silver Dodge Charger outsider his home in Wichita, Kansas.

Earlier this month a man was arrested after his toddler son died having allegedly been left inside a hot car for seven hours.

Justin Ross Harris, 33, was supposed to drop his toddler Cooper, to daycare around but instead went straight to work, apparently forgetting the boy was strapped in his carseat in the back of the vehicle.

Harris was denied bond and remains in jail on murder and child cruelty charges. A judge called it a 'possible death penalty case.'

Justin Ross Harris, the Georgia man charged with murder after his toddler son died inside of a hot SUV, was refused bond and will now remain in jail until he is tried

Statistics
compiled by the Department of Geosciences at San Francisco State
University, found there have been at least 18 heatstroke deaths of children
left in vehicles.

Last year there were 44 such deaths in the U.S. In most cases, the caregiver simply forgot about the child.

Studies show that on average, temperatures inside a vehicle can increase rapidly in a relatively short space of time: up to 19 degrees in 10 minutes and 34 degrees in half an hour.